Shutterfly's New Assistant
++ Wreckage Row ++ At the edge of Kaon, between the mining facilities, the energon refineries and the edge of the sea of rust, are the residences of the low-caste and disposable caste laborers who work in Kaon. Dilapidated and dirty, the overcrowded shanty town is known colloquially as 'Wreckage Row'. Rust and corrosion can be found in nearly every building, all of them made of cheap or recycled building materials salvaged from other areas on the planet. Shoddy construction means that every so often, a residence will simply collapse, trapping those who live there inside the debris. Orange, red and green are the major colors here, most of them from oxidation of exposed and untreated material. Peeling, spotty paint and dull gray give everything a mismatched and run-down appearance. Black markets and seedy dives are littered through the area, serving whatever fuels they can scrounge or distill on their own. Free clinics sit across the street from relinquishment clinics - humanitarian aid juxtaposed against commercial exploitation as stark examples of the viewpoints of other castes and polities. Oxide dusts cling to everything and pools of unknown chemicals gather in prismatic puddles in low spots. The stench of sour energon and industrial wastes taint the air, and outbreaks of scraplet infestations are frequent. Criminal activity is high despite the security that reside in the looming mushroom-shaped fortress of Kolkular over the horizon. The frequent presence and beatings from Enforcers have only encouraged the residents of this slum to rely on crime to survive. Arcee, or 'Shutterfly', as she's known to locals, has been told that someone will be assisting her in her undercover work around Kaon. She was to meet him in the tunnels below Wreckage Row, at the specified coordinates. A journalist is a pretty good cover, it turns out--she could always just say she's doing a story or personal project about subterranean regions or something, and needed images or footage. It doesn't sound at all suspicious! Does it? 'Shutterfly' is, indeed, down in the tunnels. She has her press pass on her in the event she runs across anyone who looks particularly shady, because she's discovered that a lot of tough mechs shy away from camera footage. Another way to stay one step ahead of trouble in Kaon is to look like you know where you're going and what you're doing. She's always on her way somewhere, capturing images, and this front has worked out very well for her. Beneath the disguise, Arcee has times when she's very nervous her cover will not be enough to protect her, and down here in the tunnels does not give her a feeling of confidence. She waits for her contact anxiously. She doesn't have to wait long at all. Her contact is, in fact, someone she is familiar with. It might surprise her a little bit, it might not. Yes, her new teammate is Blurr, and he suddenly seems to be standing right in front of her as if he'd teleported in--though of course she knows better than that. "So." he pipes up. "Shutterfly, right?" 'Shutterfly' stares in surprise for a moment. "....." Then, she begins chuckling. "You?? Really? -- Yes, I'm the Shutterfly you're looking for," she admits with a grin. "...It's really you??" Blurr chuckles as well. He isn't surprised by the reaction. "Who else?" he laughs. Who else is as attractive as he is? Seriously let's be honest with ourselves. "Yeah, I decided to do a little more with my life than just being entertainment, albeit pretty talented entertainment but entertainment still. Anyway so they tell me you're supposed to tell me what to do." Inwardly, Arcee's still annoyed he entered into conjunx endura with the first femme that caught his attention, but she can't be too mad, because there isn't a whole lot she can do about it at this point. "Okay, well I have a lot of data that needs to go back to Prowl and Magnus -- I'm glad you're assisting them, by the way," she notes, procuring a few dataslugs. "Some of this footage has been aired already on KNN, but a lot of it was never aired and it's a lot of what goes on inside the Forge." Blurr nods quickly. "Data back to the decagon, got it." He he says with a grin. "You can sure count on me for that!" He examines her for a moment. "Well I'm glad you're happy to have me on the team. What made you want to join up anyway?" he asks, curious. Does he even realize who she actually is? 'Shutterfly' is beginning to wonder just how much information Blurr was given; she doesn't want to assume, and it SEEMS like they're alone down here but even so, she doesn't even want to risk giving anything away while she's in disguise. If he doesn't know, then she won't tell him until after the mission's over, she decides. "Quite a few reasons, actually. But I don't even know if they matter, anymore. I feel like I have a lot to offer the cause. Doing this sort of work builds character, too." (Boy, does it ever,) she thinks. "How about you?? I mean, really, you could just retire today and live comfortable!" "Yeah, I know, but why would I do that? I mean for what? What would I -do-, just sit around on my aft all cycle? Tch!" Blurr shakes his head at that proposition. "I have do something important, more important than racing. You heard the news, of course, with that 'Institute' place. My uh, conjunx endura was trapped there for a while, it's really a terrible place. So it's kind of personal for me, you know, taking down criminals, keeping the peace. Delivering justice where it's needed. So yeah. Anyway can I call you Shutter? So Shutter what else do you have for me? Other than running data back and forth, I mean I could be in -stasis- and do that practically, do I get a cover story, I have a hologram thing. Or would you rather I just stayed out of sight? I could be your assistant or I could even look like a drone or something, it's your call you're the boss now." He really does talk fast, especially when he has a lot to say which is almost all the time. 'Shutterfly' laughs. "Well I could use an assistant when 'out in the field'," she muses. "If you could get your holo disguise to look a lot more...uh, generic? Then you could come help me locate...the mech I'm tasked to locate while I'm here. Plus, you'll have all the added excitement of being right there in close proximity with all of the meanest mechs on the planet. We can gather 'footage' during the cycle, spend some time back at KNN editing the footage that ends up on the air...then, you can take back the Forge footage periodically via these tunnels. That sound good to you?" "Sounds like a plan!" Blurr exclaims, sounding excited. "So when do we get started?" He asks, starting to fiddle with the holoprojector. It flicks on to a sort of run-down looking empty who might have been on the streets, to what looks like maybe an archivist, miner, technician, etc. "So which one do you want?" "Mmm...how about reedy-looking build," 'Shutterfly' considers, "Generic-looking faceplate -- that last one's perfect. He doesn't need to look like a criminal, just someone who's been kicked in the skidplate throughout his life. And that's a perfectshade of gunmetal gray, too. Well done!" She hopes that Blurr has the capacity to remain in character for long periods of time. "And if you ever get bored...just let me know that you're 'going on break' -- and seriously. Take a break. It's pretty difficult to remain in a constant persona." "Break?" Blurr laughs. "Who needs breaks? Ooohthat'sright, everyone except me!" He brags, leaving the hologram on that generic grey Mr. Journalist's Assistant. "Oh, I mean, of course I need breaks, everyone does!" He says, dialing back the volume of his voice quite a bit. See, he can do this. He's had some experience with acting, in commercials. So there. "Okay, fantastic! Mostly I'll have you setting up lighting and other stuff when needed when we're out on the field --" 'Shutterfly' pauses for a moment, then says carefully, "Not sure how much you've been briefed. Do you know who I'm trying to track down?" "You're trying to track down Blast Off, a former Autobot who went rogue and is now suspected in three counts of murder, and in breaching space travel regulations on multiple occasions." Blurr seems to practically recite. "He is dangerous and violent--in fact, he tried to kill me. But I'm sure I'm not the only one." "-- Okay, great, then you have some idea of what's going on here," 'Shutterfly' perks up. "And if you know anything about Blast Off, you also know that he isn't going to go quietly if he's confronted or apprehended. This is why I'm being very *indirect* with my approach. I managed to get his last known address, which is a tenament building. I'm going to be going there to question some of the residents about him, and see if someone might know where he's moved." "Oh I know he won't go quietly." Blurr says, nodding quickly. "He's definitely a fighter, but if we're prepared we can take him down. We have to corner him somewhere where he can't get away--somewhere cramped, where he won't have room to find higher ground and have the clear advantage. If you can get him to trust us, we could lure him somewhere. So what do you know about him thus far other than where he used to live? What does he -want-? What can we bait him with?" "I spoke to him a couple of times already...he can't really 'blend' in Kaon very well. And he doesn't like it here, at all. He doesn't like the mechs here, or his current standard of living...he *craves* comfort. I think if he's going to be successfully baited, it will need to be with something high-class and *rare*. Something that reminds him of his caste. That's how we're going to get him. Because I'll be honest...I could set a trap for him very easily by making him trust me and then betraying that trust, but...that's not who I am, and that's not what I do," 'Shutterfly' notes. "If we can trap Blast Off, it's going to be on *him*. He's going to be the one to take the bait. I'm not going to lure him." Blurr seems a bit baffled at her insistence on not gaining trust to betray it. "But don't you think the longer he's out there the more danger people are in? I mean, if you're going to do undercover work, you're gonna have to lie and backstab, that's just how it's going to be. I know it doesn't exactly feel right, but we can't just rely on our feelings all the time can we? Besides don't you think baiting him with luxury would be the kinda the same thing anyway?" "No, because he has the option of backing out. Whereas if I pretended to be a 'damsel in distress' to lure him in, it would be false pretenses and I'd really be no better than those crooks and liars who run that Forge," 'Shutterfly' insists. "Why stoop to their tactics, you know? I've never been a liar, and I'm not about to become one now. If, on the other hand, Blast Off hears rumors of some...amazing enerwine locked away in the bowels of an abandoned building...it's on *him* if he's crazy enough to investigate just to get his hands on his favorite luxury." "Yeah but aren't you lying already by pretending to be someone else?" Blurr questions again. "I just don't see the difference." he folds his arms. "Either way you're luring him into a trap. He's a criminal, he deserves to be betrayed!" 'Shutterfly' pouts a very familiar-looking pout, and leans into Blurr's personal space. "Darn it, why did you have to run off with the first femme you ever met?" She asks in frustration, not really expecting an answer back. "*ahem* Anyhow yes. We're here to catch him. We're going to do just that." "Exactly and we should get the job done faster by getting him to trust us and then luring him into a trap. Because if we want to win we have to be willing to use our enemy's own tactics against them!" Yes, because faster is -always- better. "We might not like it, but we have to do it and everyone has to do things they don't like, or we'll always be one step behind th--" Wait. Now wait a second. No, Blurr hates that word. The word 'wait'. But suddenly Shutter is getting really close to him. And--where has he seen that look?? The hologram disguise flickers a bit and goes out. "What?!?!?" He is totally confused. "Howdoyou--whowhatwhoareyoutalkingabout?? She wasn't the first fembot I ever met!" he frowns. "Whatslagwasthatallabout?!" 'Shutterfly' sighs. "Whoops. That just kind of...slipped out," she admits. "Sorry about that. Look, it's not important. I was wrong for saying it." Even though she *thinks* it. "Let's just stay on task." "..." Blurr just stares at her for a moment, baffled. Finally he seems to regain his composure. "Right, right on task. So how about this. You could tell him you'll treat him to some fine high grade at your hab suite, and I'll spike the drink with something to slow him down so he can't get away. I mean he couldn't possibly resist some high life goodies." "Mmmmmaybe," 'Shutterfly' considers, although that's too close to a classic 'honeypot' trap for her liking. "He might go for that because I've already shared a no-strings-attatched enerwine with him, so the...trust, is there. Before we plan that, though, let's find out where he's staying, *because* those mechs who are harboring him can be taken in, as well." "Oh, so he already trusts you, well that's perfect, then!" Blurr claps his hands together once. "So once we find all associates, maybe you can invite -all- of them over and insist that they all have a nice drink. They won't even know what hit them! Oh, we are -good-." he chuckles and slaps her on the back. "They had the right idea, putting us on a team." "Cute," 'Shutterfly' chuckles. No, she isn't letting Blurr steal her plans. She's the boss. He even said so! She's. The. BOSS. He can suggest whatever he wants, but in the end, she has the final word. She isn't going to let him forget that. "So! When you want, I'll go show you the KNN building, get you some press pass credentials...and we can get to work!" "Cute? But--!" Blurr looks as if he is about to protest but suddenly stops and closes his mouth, lowering his optics. "Yes, ma'am. We can get the press passes whenever you say. This is your operation, therefore I'm at your command." he says, sounding uncharacteristically subdued. 'Shutterfly' smiles. "Hey...I'm still considering the last steps, believe me. That's one of several very good scenarios. But first, I think it's important that we pinpoint where he is because he might actually have an entire network of cohorts protecting him now. First things first." She considers for a moment, then says, "If you want a habsuite here in Kaon, I can get you a safe one for the time being...although that's up to you, since you have a really easy way of getting in and out of here when you need to so it might not even be necessary in your case. And...I really wasn't expecting them to send you. But I still think we can work together well. Forgive my...comments earlier. You're not really the one who has the issues in this case, it's me, but I can explain that later on, after we've done what we're here to do. Okay?" Blurr nods, looking back up at her without much expression in his optics. "Of course. You're in charge, I shouldn't have questioned you. Having a hab suite here might not be necessary but someone might ask, and we can't let anyone get suspicious." The speedster sounds...not quite himself, for a moment there. Then he shrugs and seems to resume his typical tone. "Anyway I guess I'd better get this intel back to the Decagon." Zoom. Off he goes in a flash, as is typical of Blurr. Not long after he has gone, Arcee may notice that someone has left an encrypted message on her comms. It reads: "Hello Shutterfly, Good cycle to you. I am your partner's handler, if you will. If he gives you any trouble at all, please let me know. I can -persuade- him to be cooperative. All the best, -Cipher"